Adventuring Is The New Family Activity In Rune Factory 4

Rune Factory 4 doesn’t make it easy to get together with the person you love. The first step to forming a relationship is the confession. Shouting “I love you!” into their faces before his or her affection levels are high enough will only result in them not taking you seriously, so, as in previous games, you’ll still have to build up affection levels by talking to the character every day and giving him or her presents.

You’ll know you’ve come far enough when you confess and it’s accepted. The moment the confessee agrees, the game changes accordingly. Not only will small things change, like the way you and your new lover will address each other, but there will be extra events. Just talking to him or her will result in small scenes that may range from quiet time together by the lake to the character awkwardly trying to hold a conversation with you.

You can also invite your lover on dates, such as taking a ride on an airship together and afterwards, you may get the option to “deepen your relationship with skinship”. Additionally, as a little bonus, each of the characters also has a pyjama outfit, which you can see once you’re far enough into a relationship.

And of course, the final step is marriage…and a kid! In Rune Factory 4, though, your character’s child isn’t just another superficial addition to your house. You can actually take your child and wife/husband out adventuring through the forests and even the dungeons.

On a completely different note, Marvelous AQL has also released a new character—Porcoline Toule Viviage. He’s a wandering chef with some skill, but because he chows down while he cooks, his efficiency is amazingly low, no matter how many ingredients he has with him. He’s a kind person who helps those in need.

One should have known that child labor would be a real problem in this place. From a young age, kids are forced to kill monsters and wield pickaxes as weapons. Most of them are probably only used as meat shields by their parents, too.

That also makes me believe infant mortality rate must be particularly high. On the other hand, those who do survive, should eventually make for some pretty good farmers. The spartan method always works best.

MrRobbyM

This should be on the back of the box.

Leivinia

The starting place of legends who go on to slay Lao-Shan Lung.

M’iau M’iaut

Well this is probably fairer to the entire family than my leaving Popuri behind in the house with the baby so I can hit hit the bar and get drunk.

That would explain why there’s usually only two kids in the whole town, other than your own.

Tom_Phoenix

Well, considering there is probably no contraception in this fantasy land, I imagine the birth rate is huge and thus helps negate the mortality rate.

Historiata

The next big thing in RPGs:

Children raised by problematic parents in an RPG setting. Bonus if the parent or parents were also saviors of the world. Better still, the parent failed to be the true hero and watched his women get taken away. Calling it right now.

Suicunesol

Hmm.

I think this article just about pushed me over the edge in regards to buying this game. I can’t wait to see this localized.

I hope I can name the kid.

puchinri

Wahoo ~ ! So much excite.

And even though I know (er, assume, anyway) that the girl is actually getting equal playtime and all that now, the screens and scans and such so far make me worried and a bit sad.

But~! All the gameplay, NPCs (bachelor/ettes and non) and everything has me really excited, so I can’t wait for the game. ♥

Joanna

Hm, how come the scans and screens are making you worried? I mean, there seems to be an equal amount of bachelors and bachelorettes (two monster brides and two monster grooms as well~) and nothing suggests that it’s going to be like Tides of Destiny where you can only play the fem route at a later point. In fact, I distinctly recall screens where the fem MC is talking with the dragon early in-game. So I am positively excited for this Rune Factory. It’s taken them forever, but we finally have a real fem MC option. (I know this is a pipe dream, but same sex marriage would be another awesome inclusion~)

puchinri

For a while, there was a heavy focus in the scans, screens and vids on the male MC (I always forget his name). It just makes me anxious because of Oceans/ToD, but I know I don’t have to worry~.

I really like all of the bachelors so far though, so I’m excited too! Oh goodness, same sex marriage would be the best! ;u;

Joanna

I know what you mean. I’m having trouble picking which bachelor I like best. I guess I’ll see how they are in game to make that decision. xD

puchinri

Yeah, haha. Their actual personality will make quite a difference, but they’re all just too appealing right now~. >u<

Since marriage and story are separate, does this mean I could take my kid to fight the final boss?
“Hey son! Let’s go into this dangerous cave so that you can watch me get beaten to an inch of my life!”
Also,
“to the character awkwardly trying to hold a conversation with you.”
Dylas?

Historiata

I think you mean, “…so I can watch you get beaten…”
Hooray for RPGs condoling child violence!

PizzicatoSpirit

Ooo I so want this to be localized now. Doing stuff with your wife/husband and kid adds more replay value.

Though if this does get localized, I think this will be the best in the Rune Factory series.

andref

On another note I kind of wonder why RF doesn’t seem to have love rivals anymore. Even if I’m not a fan of RF 2 for its pacing being quite messed up from moving from my long experience in the father stage to taking over as the kid without much open to me yet I did like how most of the former single women got married and there was a bunch of other kids around

Binku Muja

Mainly because it was a pointless aspect. If you wanted to marry a certain character you were forced to max their love points out before the rival’s confession cropped up-so you had no choice but to focus solely on that individual.

Many people have already commented that they prefer to leave capturing their spouse until after they’ve completed the main storyline so that they have something to look forward to. The only reason they had to choose right away was due to RF2’s rival system/2nd generation time skip and RF3 forcing you to marry because you couldn’t advance the story without it.

Jonathan Keycross

Child.-“And why are we in this cave, dad?”
Dad.-“You see, in this very place I met your mother…”
Child.-“Really?”
Dad.-“Yes, in the beginning she really gave a fight, but in the end I won…”
Child.-“…her heart?”
Dad.-“No, I beat her up like the monster she was…”

Of course, the child was even more confused when mom blushed at the moment dad said that.
—

This is great news, I never expected the entire family would join in adventuring. It would be fun to imagine the kind of conversation they would have.

Edit:Stupid grammar, again…

XiaomuArisu

I was expecting:
Dad: Kids, I’m gonna tell you an incredible story — the story of how I met your mother. Son: Are we being punished for something? Dad: (confused) No. Daughter: Yeah, is this gonna take a while? Dad: Yes.

Historiata

How about:

Child: Hey mom, how’d you and dad meet?
Monster mom: Well, I guess you could say he gave a ‘striking’ first impression.

Binku Muja

Or how about this;

Child: Hey dad, how’d you get that scar?
Dylas: Well, long ago when your dad was just a hellish unicorn, your mom beat the hell out of me and this scar is just a reminder of what can happen if you piss her off.

Historiata

It’s incredible how the sphere of moe continues to violently expand to every imaginable combination except hideously drawn characters.

That actually brings up an interestng point: Will your child be human, or will they have monster powers? I’m half thinking that there might be a point where the child goes out of control and you’ll have to beat the crap out of him or her too.

Wife beating, child violence! And they say shooters are a bad influence!

Hinataharem

The gourmands get uglier every game

Lisa Fraulein

The only cute one was Pierre, but that’s for another (similar) game

Elemiel

And yet they somehow throw out beautiful kids. Honestly, is that what Sofia, Bianca, Electra, and the others are going to look like when they’re older?

I imagine they also kept the swimsuits for the chars, love to see one of the most important part of the games being upgraded, it was about time

Tylor Makimoto

Wait, that is a HE?

Historiata

Did anyone else feel a distinct wave of dread, misery, and horror wash over them when they saw Porcoline immediately after reading the paragraph about having kids?

allyn Tandberg

Yes…………x.x

allyn Tandberg

honestly, I mean no offense to some of you guys, but same sex marriage in this kind of game really wouldn’t add anything to the gameplay. I mean sure, you would get to have some fun messing with your characters love life, but wouldn’t it be better to simply 1. marry the opposite sex character, and 2 have an affair with a lover?(guy or girl) adopt sure..but it’s not like they can add an orphanage to each and every iteration they make( xD ),I mean, think of the children o.O every single child given to you would mean more than one sad story.. so please, out of the question for this kind of game. but, I would keep the “lover option” open.

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